London: A City in Crisis

On the radio this morning the host was making a valid point. We have so many pressing problems right now, why are the government wasting time on debating the Transgender Laws and looking at making it easier to change gender? It’s not something that affects me so I accept that maybe for some people it may bring benefits. But is it really that pressing that Theresa May has to give it her backing and get involved? Is it THAT urgent? That our prime minister needs to down tools and spend time on it now when London and Brexit are in dire need of her attention?? Is there seriously any urgency on this?

London is in crisis. It doesn’t seem that way when I wake up in the morning of course (until I turn on the news!). The sun is shining a lot lately, the sky is blue, the birds are still singing and the trees look beautiful. But street crime is increasing constantly. I still find it hard to swallow that we are worse than New York for knife crime! It’s obvious to all of us that while police numbers (and police stations) continue to drop, that crime will continue to increase. But somehow all politicians and our strangely wooden Mayor of London seem frozen when it comes tackling any of it. We are sick to the teeth of rhetoric – we’re not stupid, we know what needs to be done, just get on with it, please!

I’m already tired of seeing Sadiq Khan’s emotionless face and wooden posture on TV, saying the same things and doing nothing. It seems he thinks we should just accept the way it is and adjust, rather than try to deal with it. If he gets in again as Mayor we may as well give up, in my opinion. Nothing is ever his fault, according to him. He tries to talk to us as if he is one of us, or that he can lead us into rebellion, but that is not what he is paid to do. He is paid to take action and make things happen. And as for the government, they seem intent on fiddling around with the Transgender laws while the rest of us deal with the reality of ever increasing and more and more violent street crime which can only continue unless we actually DO something.

We are at the beginning of Summer. We have most of July and August to get through yet. As more and more festivals and the Notting Hill Carnival (how come we can produce thousands of police for THAT?) take place we know crime will increase. We are on the cusp really, of what COULD be a great summer with the fabulous weather, or it could be hell if we don’t get a grip now of what is happening on our streets. Moped muggers are getting MORE brazen and now posing as police. Acid attacks are so normal now I feel a lot of them are not reported unless or until they catch the perpetrator and get them to court. A boy of ELEVEN has been arrested for murdering another boy by stabbing him to death at a party. Gun and knife crime are becoming part of what we expect in the news. Burglars no longer just break in, they proceed to beat up the old people they are robbing. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but let’s be honest, when you think of all the crime that doesn’t get reported as there is no evidence or the police feel it’s not worth turning up, am I really?

People are feeling angry, and fed up. We are waiting with baited breath to see how we will deal with all this. But instead we get the news that Theresa May is backing her ministers taking time out to deal with their proposed changes in Transgender law. I wish no harm to anyone struggling with gender change, but I cannot see it as urgent, and frankly I’m sick of hearing about it. So many changes are being forced on us because of it and yet a lot of it seems so unnecessary and petty. Do we really need transgender loos? Do schools really need to stop girls wearing skirts? Do schoolchildren really need a Pride celebration? Aren’t they a bit young for all this sexualisation…? And as for Sadiq Khan and his obsession with hating Donald Trump, he needs to do what is best for us and our trade after Brexit. Encouraging the public to protest is verging on Treason really and seeing as we have a shortage of police and resources I have to really question his suitability for the post of Mayor of London. Between the two of them I feel lost. Is anyone doing anything they are supposed to?

I’m not looking forward to my journey home this evening. I’m going out after work so will be travelling on the tube after dark, something I never used to let bother me until recently, being a streetwise Londoner. I knew what to look out for and how to get home safely. But now I worry. There are so many people here we know nothing about. And as street crime increases so other criminals become emboldened. Once upon a time I would talk on my phone when walking home late at night for safety – now of course that option is gone as it will increase the chance of a moped mugging. Two of my friends were strolling through a park the other day in the afternoon and the man’s watch – expensive but certainly not a Rolex or anything near that – attracted unbelievable attention from some teenagers who followed them asking for the time and obviously weighing up whether it was worth attacking them for. Thankfully my friends had a car outside the park. Is this how we live now?

So, as Mrs May and Sadiq Khan obviously need reminding, there are some very pressing issues for them to deal with. Everything else other than Brexit and sorting out our ever rising violent crime should take 2nd place for now. We need answers. To both of them I say – your nation and your capital await…!

Related Posts

14 Comments

Mike Newland
on July 11, 2018 at 9:37 am

How sad that people do not appreciate Government plans to create utopia. The reason for all this crime is inequality. Once sufficient measures are introduced to eradicate it – like unisex toilets and easy gender transition- the social problems like crime will melt away.

All this transgender stuff is getting very worrying; an alien visitor could be forgiven for thinking that they comprise the majority of the population. I’m happy for them to get on with their lives as they will but they seem to want far more. Most worrying of all with all the teaching in schools is that some impressionable kids will be encouraged to join up, but perhaps that is the strategy.

David Goodhart in today’s Telegraph: “Indeed, London, the apotheosis of English modernity is having a quieter World Cup than provincial England. It is striking how few England flags are flying in London, signifying how post-English it has become. I even had my England car flag ripped off in Dollis Hill, which is entirely flag-free. A friend of mine who runs an inner-city London secondary school found that many of the mainly ethnic minority pupils were supporting teams other than England….”

post-English' = no longer English. This is his bien-pensant, middle class way of suggesting we are experiencing a kind of movement likepost-modern’. Nothing to worry about. Just join in fashionable celebration.

Personally, I prefer Donald Trump’s description. `Sh*thole’ is more direct and way more accurate.

My local ‘town’ , well town it once was, but now more like a small city it matches D.T’s description totally. Filthy streets and shop door ways, the remains of thousands of take away meals on the uneven pavements, pot holed roads, worn out road markings, worn out infrastructure, peeling paint on shop fronts, many now closed and a total lack of visible police.
Security guards on the door at many public places and ‘policing’ public events. The ‘homeless ‘ living in car parks and shop doorways often comatose until late afternoon. Endless traffic and congestion and this in an internationally renowned ‘tourist attraction’ town.
Goodness knows what tourists think, or what impression they take home of our town never mind our country.

Have you seen Wembley? They spent millions on the stadium but the nearest high street is a sh*t hole too. Ive always wondered what football fans and visiting foreign dignitaries must think! Shameful really